Frozen in Time
by chonkycat
Summary: May Maple and Drew Hayden. Longtime friends and rivals in the contest scene as adolescent youths, but long separated by time and consequence of feelings and bad decisions. Except now their paths are about the cross again after May makes a bad decision herself, but is it too late for 2nd chances? Takes place with them aged up in their twenties. MayxDrew/MayxBrendan


**Hello new fam!**

**I'm a resident chonky cat, and here's my first fic on this account(:  
I was formerly on a different account writing Pokemon fics, but stuff happened. If you want that full story, scoot on over to my profile before commenting if you recognize my writing style. Very important. Many thanks. You have been blessed by the big chonk.**

**In this universe, May and Drew met at 10…traveled through Johto around age 13-14, and then now are 21-22 years of age.**

**Onwards!**

**_**

There's a warmth that seeps out in the winter time, even when all else is frozen and people are chilled to the bone. It radiates from those who love and nurture others as easily as the next can breathe, but in truth the sparks of warmth are always there no matter the season. You just have to aware of everything around you, as what you're looking for - what you've always been looking for - might've been just under your nose all along.  
_

In the quiet of a darkened coffee shop in Snowpoint City, a young man turned the page of a novel he was reading. His deep emerald eyes were twinkling faintly, eyes scanning the page and taking in every word intently as he absentmindedly scratched his head. He was dressed simply, mostly in all black, with a dark blue padded coat over the ensemble pulling the whole look together. The windows rattled overhead, as the snowstorm roaring outside battered the glass panes in yet another attempt to break through and ruin the peace and quiet. The coals from the fireplace sparked and hissed softly - as if in response to the outside threat. A few patrons that were idling by the door, putting off going out into the storm, finally braved the weather and stepped out into the cold. The man could hear a woman squealing in shock from the bitter chill that blasted into her face when the door opened, and as it swung shut the cafe returned to its fairly quiet nature.

A barista, having finished cleaning up the back tables in an ever emptying room, precariously approached the man. Not wanting to disturb him, but also needing to close up shop for the night, she clasped her hands together and took an audibly deep breath.

Smiling to himself, he looked up at her. "No need to worry," he smiled, "I'll be heading out soon. So sorry to overstay."

She sighed in relief and bowed, about to walk away, but then her eyes lit up as he folded the top right corner of the page he was on, and shut the book he was reading. _Coordinating Spectacles of the Four Seasons. _This was a limited edition collector's book that hadn't even hit the shelves yet. Her eyes flitted from that and her newfound realization to his face_. _Now seeing his face clearly for the first time as he packed up, her eyes widened and she let out a small gasp. The girl couldn't help herself from squeaking in excitement. "Wait, don't tell me…you're not, Drew, are you? THE Drew Hayden?"

Feeling a sense of dread at the thought of dealing with another fangirl - something he'd nearly forgotten about from his teen years - and now in his twenties, Drew tensed up.

"Sorry, no - though I do get that often…"

She was positively beaming now.

"Oh my mew, you're definitely Drew Hayden! I read from a _Coordinator's Weekly_ issue that you always lie about being someone else if asked since you quit coordinating! Who knew they were spot on about that!?"  
The girl leapt forward to clasp his hands, her eyes bright and excited. She really couldn't help herself at this point, and Drew knew it. She continued with her excited babbling. "Wow, what an honor it is to meet you Drew! I'm Sophie! I was legit one of your biggest fans back in the day! I went to ALL your contests! I even entered one once…not that it went well hahaha…but OH MY MEW IT'S REALLY YOU! DREW!"

Somehow…the ice outside seemed to have seeped into Drew's bloodstream, freezing him sullenly into place, mostly from horror. Fangirls really never did fail to horrify him, no matter how old he was. Although if he was being honest, he would much rather brave the cold outside than deal with Sophie, no matter how kind she seemed. He smiled awkwardly at all her chattering, pretending to feign interest and wistfully hoping he could just leave her a tip and be on his way.

There was so much to do in the coming days, what with his long absence from coordinating coming to an end - and not one person was aware of this. He was excited to shock the world, but mostly just finally felt ready to handle it all. Ready to handle the contests, ready to handle the fame, and ready to face his feelings…for her. Well, not Sophie, but someone else. Someone he hadn't seen in a solid near-decade by now. He found himself pondering that, as Sophie continued fangirling, not realizing she was preaching to ears that were not listening at all.

About a ten minute hike from Snowpoint City, a young woman was struggling to even just trudge through the snow. It was up past her waist, and she was shuddering from the sheer cold of it all. The wind howled like a pack of wild Mightyena, and ice shards were actually breaking through the skin on her face, leaving her skin rubbed and raw, and without much protection. Her entire lower half was sopping wet, numb and bitterly cold, and she held an arm up over her eyes in an attempt to shield from the bright snow and hail pelting her at all angles from above.

May had always managed to avoid weather hazards, particularly ones that could be a threat to her overall wellbeing. But it seemed that record streak was coming to an end, as she found herself struggling to even see which way was forward from whence she came. Even though the snow was piled up high in mounds all around her, the tempest was raging so fiercely that the last foothold she had made from moving herself forward had already been filled up upon looking back behind her. The young coordinator swore in spite of herself.

In the whiteout there was no way to know which direction to go, as the usual landmarks leading her to Snowpoint City were nowhere in sight. As if to make it all worse, she noticed the slightest bit of a darkened sky overhead, and that the temperature had seemingly dropped even more - though she wasn't sure if that was just from being out for too long in the wrong clothing, or if the blizzard had actually worsened in the last hour.

She swore louder than before this time while rubbing her face and sighing in a mixture of frustration and self-pity. Shouting at the sky wasn't going to do anything. It was her own damn fault for not paying heed to Brendan's warning earlier that day, advising her to just go in a few days when the snowstorm died down. Or to even just take the Dragonite Express Service from Celestic Town. But no, her stubborn streak and need to rely on herself to travel just HAD to win, thinking she could outrun a snowstorm. At least she knew Blaziken definitely could, but she couldn't have him carry her now, not in this weather, and certainly not after what had happened an hour or so ago.

May didn't factor in running into Jesse and James for the first time in years, having to battle them off from stealing her Blaziken yet again - but their bizarre capture device had sent both her and Blaziken falling and rolling down the side of a cliff, which had knocked her beloved companion unconscious. Then, to make matters worse, she had run into a kid looking for his Snover who was also not dressed particularly well, and May couldn't push aside the thought of this poor kid wandering around in basketball shorts and a sweatshirt looking for his partner alone, so she ended up helping him find his Snover that ended up actually just wandering off in search of berries and was actually trailing along behind them the whole time, giggling at their failed attempts to find him. It was ridiculous, and by the time she had left the boy with his idiotic Snover in a cave in the company of another hiker and continued back on her original route, it had all set her ridiculously behind schedule. And to top it all off, she was wearing nothing but her biker shorts, a red t-shirt with a Torchic on it, sneakers, and at Brendan's insistence, a black puffy jacket of his with an overly pleased looking Metagross flexing on the back of it.

Despite her initial horror at the idea of wearing his highly unfashionable snow coat, she had to admit defeat here…May was beyond grateful for it now. Meeting Brendan again - her old childhood friend - a few years back in general…was one of the better things to happen to her after Drew left.

Drew. Her rival. Her friend. Her…first crush? Maybe.

But no matter what he was to her once, he was gone. And there was nothing she could do about that. It had been 8 long years since she saw him, after he said he was sorry one night after a contest he had performed horrifically in - what for, she didn't know - and he walked out of contests, and her life. No one but Solidad knew where he left to, and her refusal to tell anyone more about it had caused a rift to grow between her from May. And as for Harley, he oddly became much closer to May during that time period. Despite their issues as children, Harley had grown up, matured, and became one of May's closest friends. The thought of that would have been completely foreign to May before Drew left, and she often wondered how Drew would react to the news on that - she knew even while in Johto he didn't care for the purple-haired man, but even thinking about that would drag her mood down, so she learned to push anything to do with Drew out of her mind. And after enough time, it was fine. She didn't love Drew anymore if she even did to begin with. Maybe it really was just a crush for her.

Though she had to wonder, had their 2 years of traveling together around Johto and Sinnoh ever meant anything to him? He used to look at her with these eyes…dark and expressive, and with something unreadable but with a warm gaze. And while he once had been a total jerk back when they were kids as well, during the time they traveled together as teenagers - first with begrudgingly with Solidad and Harley, and then just them alone, he had really opened up. They were really great friends AND rivals. Why would he just up and leave for no reason? And quit his dream! None of it made any sense to May. But that was Drew. He was a sort of an enigma. And she supposed he always would be that to her now.

But amidst that confusion, she had run into Brendan. He wasn't Drew. And he wasn't like Ash. Brendan was just Brendan. He was kind and thoughtful. He noticed her feeling out of it when no one else did. And he wasn't afraid to tell her flat out when she was wrong or needed a push in the right direction. The only other person who ever did that for her was…Drew. And in some ways, he helped her heal. And she had helped him heal as well, but that was going way back into childhood when he was attacked by a Salamence and left scarred. He feared no one would ever treat him normally again, without pity in their eyes when people looked upon his scarred face. But May looked past that and treated him the same as always. To Brendan, May became someone he didn't want to live without, but then she moved away, only to reunite five long years later. And now to May, Brendan was someone she didn't want to live without either.

Brendan was a coordinator as well, but also a highly skilled trainer - having won the Hoenn, Johto, Unova, and Kalos leagues all while in his teenage years. He had lost contact completely with May until they ran into each other at a contest in Eterna City. His father, Professor Birch, was overjoyed at the fact that they had grown to be such close friends and were reunited naturally - as if the world willed it that way. Because that's all they were: natural friends. And also natural rivals.

But all this aside, right now, May needed her friend.

She pulled out her Pokenav in an attempt to reach Brendan. To her relief, there were still two bars. She prayed he would answer.

Brendan was worried.

He was in Floaroma Town, collecting honey samples for his father, but all he could think about was May. May's idiocy. May's stubbornness. May's health. May's laughter the previous afternoon. May's chestnut hair floating around in the wind. May's azure eyes. May.

With a deep sigh, he stood up from the Combee nest he had found and started back towards his rental. He had it bad, and he knew it. But who could really blame him? She was kind. She was ambitious. She was so fun to travel with. And the way she loved her Pokemon…he always hoped she could see him that way too someday. He admittedly liked her when they were kids, back when he was afraid of everything and she was extra feisty and adventurous like she was now. And her spirit saved him during the hardest time of his life.

She showed him the wonder of Pokemon. Smiling at the memory, Brendan lightly touched the scar under his hat. Though he knew that incident was made better by May it had, in turn, made her terrified of Pokemon herself for quite a long while afterward, which he had felt responsible for somehow - but was glad to know she had come around since they had lost contact.

Now she had convinced him through her cheeky bright smiles and overwhelming self-assurance that it was safe to travel to Snowpoint City BY FOOT. In the middle of February. With the biggest blizzard in Sinnoh's history happening right this very minute. Even in Floaroma Town, it was chillier than normal. It hadn't affected the Combee habits or anything, but there was a certain crispness to the air that wasn't usually apart of the area.

Brendan had told her to call him upon arrival, but watching the sky darken overhead he couldn't help but feel sick to the stomach. Something had to have happened. She couldn't have not yet arrived…right? Was there a detour? Did she get there but maybe her Pokenav just died?

Knowing he wasn't fooling himself - or anyone really - he was now running to the nearest Pokemon Center at full speed to call ahead to the Snowpoint Pokemon Center. At the very least, he had to ask if May had gotten there yet. There had to be hope.

Drew was drained as he finally managed to escape across town to the Snowpoint City Pokemon Center. The fangirl had been relentless, and it was only because of her manager that he had managed to get away from her at last, thank mew. Of course, that meant he was also now very thoroughly chilled, but thankfully all the snow and ice had dampened his hair to the point where It now appeared dark green, and with his fake glasses on he no longer resembled the famous Drew Hayden that had vanished from the contest circuit.

He walked up to the front desk, where Nurse Joy smiled at him warmly.

"My! You look like you've been through quite the ordeal. Room for one tonight?"

"Yes please," Drew smiled softly. Nurse Joy was always so understanding. He didn't doubt that she might've recognized him anyway considering her knowing smile, but he appreciated her willingness to conceal that for him nonetheless.

"Right away!"

She turned to the computer behind her to look up rooms. Around the same time, a video call machine lit up, listing an incoming call from Floaroma Town. She paused, nodding to Drew that she'd get back to him in a moment, and then proceeded to take the call.

Brendan's face appeared on the screen. Drew couldn't help but feel his heart sink.

While he hadn't spoken to or seen May in person for years, he knew full well from _Coordinator's Weekly_ \- yes he kept up with it - that this was a man May had been traveling with and was long rumored to be dating. The thought of this made him bite his lip, and he found himself pressing forward against the counter to hear their conversation better.

"Hello. This is Brendan Birch, calling from the Floaroma Town Pokemon Center. My traveling partner was headed up to Snowpoint City today, and hasn't yet called to let me know if she made it yet, and I couldn't help but worry due to the storm. Could you please check to see if a May Maple has checked in yet? I would really appreciate it!"

He had been trying to sound relaxed, but his eyes were darting around nervously, and Drew could see his brow was furrowed in worry. Somewhat startled now, he realized his own hands were clenched. He breathed out and flexed his fingers to calm down. There was no reason to be worried, May could handle herself. She was smart, and always well-prepared. Brendan must be just plain paranoid.

Nurse Joy frowned. "I'm sorry Brendan, but May hasn't come in today at all. Are you sure she came up today? Didn't she know about the storm warning?"

His face whitened visibly. "I…She knew, but she didn't care. I told her not to go but she insisted, and I believed in her…Oh, Nurse Joy, is there any way to send out a search party? It's already dark and the storm is getting worse from what I've seen on TV! She wasn't dressed too well for it either."

"What do you mean by that?"

Both Brendan and Nurse Joy turned to look at Drew's outburst. Somewhat surprised himself, he recollected himself after his outburst. His eyes were fixed on Brendan intently, and Brendan couldn't help but flinch a little.

Nurse Joy placed a calming hand on Drew's shoulder, her eyes gleaming with a knowing expression. She turned to face the camera call. "I think Drew here is just worried for his friend Brendan. What do you mean that May wasn't dressed right?"

Brendan sighed, also realizing at that point who Drew was. He didn't really have an opinion on him, at least not right now. May was of priority. He continued, "She was in summer clothes. She always insists on wearing those biker shorts and sneakers, no matter the weather. I did give her my snow coat though."

Nurse Joy proceeded to ask for a clothing description, and for Brendan to e-mail a recent photo of May. Drew listened intently, snorting with laughter at the mention of the Metagross flexing on the coat. Brendan huffed a little.

Nurse Joy smiled warmly to Brendan and Drew. "Well don't you worry now Brendan, we'll find May! You stay put alright?"

Brendan's gaze sharpened. "There's no way I'm just going to sit here. I'll be looking as well, but from overhead on my Kyurem. I'll be properly dressed though, so don't worry. Don't wait for me, I'll see you there."

Before either Joy nor Drew could react, Brendan had clicked off the monitor and the call disconnected. They stood there momentarily, listening to the monitor beep a few times before Nurse Joy rushed off, to get help Drew would presume.

He pondered for a moment if this was the right time to re-enter May's life. It seemed unlikely she would receive him well, regardless of the situation. However, he felt the need to ignore the style points right now, as May's health was of immediate priority, and sighed deeply as he realized he was likely about to face an old fear of sorts in the near future.

Drew was outside in the cold again before he knew it, calling out Flygon with a flourish of his hand. He explained the situation, and the Pokemon's eyes softened after hearing about May. It let out a soft cry and nuzzled it's head into Drew's palm as if to comfort the trainer. He looked down for a moment, and then - with no more hesitation - leapt upon Flygon's back, and the two charged off into the skies above Snowpoint City, headed for the path May was stranded and alone in.

**Alrighty, that's it for now!**

**I'll try to update within the next 2 weeks, so hang tight. Let me know what you think down below, and see you all soon!**

**-Chonkycat**


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